New home construction typically involves the installation of at least one bathtub, which usually includes two drain openings. The main drain opening is located in the bottom of the tub, while the overflow drain opening is located in the end of the tub adjacent to the main drain opening but just below the top of the tub. Both drain openings must in turn be connected to the drain system. However, various difficulties can be encountered depending upon the requirements of the particular installation, which can vary drastically from one house to another. It will be appreciated that the floor loading in a bathroom can be relatively high, particularly under and adjacent to the bathtub. Depending upon the design and construction of the particular house, different underflooring and supporting joist arrangements may be encountered which in turn call for a particular drain configuration. At the present time, such drain arrangements are custom fit to the job by means of various fittings. This can be both expensive and time consuming, depending upon availability of the necessary fittings. There is no provision for adjustability and little or no tolerance for slight movement after installation which can result in leaks.
Various drain assemblies and control mechanisms have been developed heretofore. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,744,108 to Schmidt, 4,669,131 to Barlow, 4,594,738 to Gabert and 2,607,045 to Morris are representative of the prior art in this regard. However, there has not been available heretofore a drain assembly which can readily be adapted to different drain configurations without additional fittings, cutting, etc.
A need has thus arisen for a universal bath waste and overflow drain assembly which accommodates different drain configurations without additional fittings.